Loose-sheet holder



June 12, 1951 R. F. POWER El AL LOOSE-SHEET HOLDER 4 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 8, 1948 o r m m u fiQFPowez Che une 12, 1951 R. F. POWER ET AL LOOSE SHEET HOLDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 8, 1948 Inv era-2501 5 h .25..I'Powe1 .A, Ch p' Jjf June 12, 195 R. F. POWER ET AL LOOSE-SHEET HOLDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001;. 8, 1948 I lllllll ll lll ll .12. Chai June 12, 1951 R. F. POWER ET AL LOOSE-SHEET HOLDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 8, 1948 hvazvwra .Hfl.Cher1 Z Patented .lune l2, l95l LOOSE-SHEET HOLDER Richard Fitz Power, Hampstead, London, and Harold Arthur Cherry, Harborne, Birmingham,

England,

Birmingham, England Application October 8, 1948, Serial No. 53,526 In Great Britain October 31, 194.7

2 Claims.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved loose sheet holder of the kind commonly termed a posting tray, such trays being used in oflices for temporarily holding an assembly of leaves taken from a loose-leaf ledger or the like while entries are being made thereon.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan View of a loose sheet holder constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross section of the holder taken on the line A-A of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the holder taken on the line B-B of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the holder;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line -0 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a section taken on the line D--D of Figure 5.

In one convenient manner of carrying the invention into effect, there is provided a sheet metal base l of rectangular form having side and end flanges 2 and 3. At or near one end of the base there is secured a sheet metal support l for the pile of paper sheets to be carried on the base, this support being inclined rearwardly at a convenient angle to the vertical as shown in Figure 3. In the base there are arranged a pair of racks each having a corrugated upper surface. These racks are disposed at a convenient distance apart and parallel with the longitudinal side edges of the base 5. Also the racks are sunk beneath the upper surface 6 of the base by being accommodated in channels 7 formed therein. Usually the pile of paper sheets to be supported edgewise on the base and with its rear face in contact with the support 4, is divided into sections by index sheets made from stifi cardboard or other suitable material. One of such index sheets is shown at 8 and each index sheet is formed at its lower edge with a pair of tongue pieces 9 which engage the racks 5 and serve as fulcra on which the said index sheets can pivot.

Along the centre of the base I is formed a gap or channel constituted by downwardly turned portions It which are adapted to receive parallel channel members ll. These channel members form guides for a slide consisting of a plate l2 having downwardly extending side and end flanges. Rollers l3 mounted on the side flanges of the slide are adapted to run in the guide channel members H. To the slide is pivotally connected by means of a pin [4 another sheet metal support 15 which is complementary to the fixed support 4. This second support can be rocked about the pin I4 either into contact with the adassignors to Kalamazoo Limited,

jacent face of the pile of paper sheets, this position being indicated by broken lines in Figure 3, or to an oppositely inclined position (shown in full lines) where it allows the pile of paper sheets to be divided into two groups in V-relation, the one group being supported by the fixed support t and the other by the movable support l5.

For actuating the slide [2 and the movable support I5, there is pivoted at It on the slide the lower end of a handle ll, and the upper end of the handle is arranged in slidable connection with the support l5, this latter connection being conveniently effected by the provision on the upper end of the handle ll of a crosspiece 18 whose ends engage a pair of parallel guides 19 on the support. For securing the slide l2 in any desired position there is provided a frictional locking device under the control of a trigger or grip 20 on the handle. The trigger or grip is pivoted to the handle at 2| and is loaded by a spring pressed plunger 22. The said locking device comprises a pair of crossed levers 23 each of bell crank form and loaded by springs 24 and carried on a common pivot 25 and having their outer ends adapted to exert a wedging action on the sides of the guides H in the base. The other ends 26 of the levers lie adjacent to one end 21 of the trigger 29. The arrangement is such that when the trigger is actuated by the user its lower end 21 presses on the locking levers 23 and causes them to release the slide. On release of the trigger the springs 24 move the levers into their operative position. A pin 23 secured to the handle engages holes in the sides of the trigger to limit its movement under the action of the plunger 22.

When a pile of paper sheets and the associated index sheets are placed on the portion of the base between the supports 4 and l5, the handle ll and trigger 20 are gripped by the user for the release of the slide and are then pushed forward, causing the movable support [5 to be pressed into contact with one side of the pile and also causing the pile to be pressed into contact with the fixed support 4. On releasing the handle the slide is automatically locked by the action of the springs 24 on the locking levers 23. To enable the paper sheets in the pile to be manipulated, the movable support this rocked to its other; position as shown in full lines in Figure 3, allowing the pile to be divided at any part into two parts which are then respectively supported in V-relation by the two supports.

To prevent lateral displacement of the pile of paper sheets, a pair of guards are provided along the longitudinal sides of the base. Each.

3 such guard consists of a bar 29 having its ends 30 bent downwardly at right angles. To enable paper and index sheets of dilferent widths to be accommodated, the ends of the guards are attached to the base by connecting pieces 3| having a slidable connection 32 with the base. Further, to enable some sheets to be ofi-set relatively to others, the guards are preferably hinged at 33 to the base or to the said connecting pieces 3!, so that either guard can be swung outwardly to a position in which its straight part can serve as a stop for the ofi-set sheets. The guards are retained in either position by providing a pin 34 on the guard which co-operates with a spring loaded plunger 35 as shown in Figure 4.

By this invention there is provided in a very satisfactory manner a holder which is adjustable to paper piles of difierent thicknesses, is easily portable and is generally well adapted to ofiice requirements.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A loose sheet holder comprising in combination a base, a fixed sheet support arranged at an inclination to the vertical adjacent to one end of the base, a slide on the base, a, movable sheet support pivotally attached to the slide, an actuating handle pivotally attached at one end to the slide and having at the other end a slidable connection with the movable sheet support, means for releasably securing the slide to the 4 base, and a trigger for releasing the slide-securing means, the trigger being pivotally attached to the handle and arranged with one end adjacent to the slide-securing means so that the trigger can be actuated by a hand gripping the handle to cause the said end of the trigger to act on and release the slide-securing means.

2. A loose leaf holder as claimed in claim 1, in which the slide-securing means comprise in combination fixed parts at the sides of the base, and a pair of spring loaded levers carried by the slide and shaped at their outer ends to exert a Wedging action on the said fixed parts, the levers being situated adjacent to and operable by the trigger.

RICHARD FITZ POWER. HAROLD ARTHUR CHERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,574,526 Yiesser et al Feb. 23, 1926 1,639,016 Wood Aug. 16, 1927 1,899,530 Schade Feb. 28, 1933 2,150,518 Power Mar. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 873,859 France July 16, 1934 

